Wine Spectator (93)

Supple, round and complex, a distinctive mix of blackberry, black cherry, orange peel and tobacco aromas and flavors, hinting at exotic spices as the finish lingers smoothly.

Wine Spectator (93)

Supple, round and complex, a distinctive mix of blackberry, black cherry, orange peel and tobacco aromas and flavors, hinting at exotic spices as the finish lingers smoothly.

Wine Advocate (85)

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Johann Shiraz Cabernet has an open, expressive cassis and blackberry tart scented nose with a cedary background and hints of baker's chocolate and yeast extract. The oak slightly overshadows the relatively elegant, medium-bodied fruit core, finishing with chewy tannins and lingering wood flavors. It would actually be an impressive wine were it not for the clumsy oak usage.

The Jane Eyre Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2019, eloquently epitomises the ideal terroir of its Australian homeland. Both structured and elegant, it is an expressive, intricately layered wine where sun-kissed red and dark berries coalesce with savoury undertones, culminating in a characteristically long, lithe finish.

Eminently renowned winemaker, Jane Eyre, sources her grapes from select, low-yielding vineyards, exclusively found in the cool-climate region of Mornington Peninsula. Her intimate hands-on approach, featuring traditional Burgundian winemaking techniques, ensures each vintage retains the unique intricacies of the terroir. Fermented with indigenous yeast and nurtured for 16 months in French oak barrels, the Jane Eyre Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2019 exudes finesse.

This wine is an immaculate testament to Eyre's expertise in Pinot Noir pronunciation, marrying the purity of fruit with complex undertones. Savour this captivating tipple as a standalone treat or paired with your favourite gourmet gastronomy. The Jane Eyre Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2019 exceeds expectations in the realm of fine Australian wine.

Wine Enthusiast (90)

A well-made sparkler, Jansz's Premium Cuvée shows lovely nuances of toast and superfresh lemon zest layered over ripe apple scents. It's light and fresh, with a slight creaminess to the texture, with flavors that lean toward apple and citrus, but with some savory undercurrents of toast and mushrooms. Drink now.

Vinous (93)

Deep violet. Explosively perfumed scents of ripe blueberry, cassis, kirsch, cured tobacco and dried flowers. At once very ripe and lively, with potent red and dark berry flavors; verges on jammy but maintains energy and focus. Soft tannins add support to this massive shiraz, whose level of extract suggests that it will repay at least a decade of cellaring.

Wine Advocate (98)

One of the most colossal wines in all of my tastings was Jim Barry’s 2004 Shiraz The Armagh, a 100% Shiraz aged 16 months in French and American oak. It is an opaque purple-hued, super-intense effort displaying great precision and richness. Notes of melted asphalt, acacia flowers, blueberries, blackberries, charcoal, and espresso roast emerge from this full, dense, opulent Shiraz. The finish lasts for over 45 seconds. This is a great example of one of the icons of Australian Shiraz. Anticipated maturity: now-2025.

Vinous (94)

Inky ruby. Heady aromas of ripe blackberry, blueberry and candied licorice are complicated by sexy notes of vanilla, violet and Indian spices. Lush, deeply flavored and broad, offering intense dark berry and cherry compote flavors and an exotic floral pastille nuance. Finishes sweet and very long, with resonating spiciness, a hint of fruitcake and velvety tannins.

Wine Advocate (98+)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Shiraz The Armagh offers a gorgeous perfume of baking spices, violets, Sichuan pepper and fragrant earth. More earthy and savory in the mouth than on the nose, the palate is superbly structured and taut—built for the long-haul—with a long, complex finish. Still very youthfully, forget this wine for 3-5 more years and consider drinking it over the next 20+.

Vinous (96)

Inky ruby. A hugely perfumed, expansive bouquet evokes ripe black and blue fruits, candied violet, incense and mocha, and an exotic Indian spice flourish builds slowly with air. Appealingly sweet and palate-coating, offering densely packed cassis, blueberry and cherry liqueur flavors complemented by suave vanilla and five-spice powder accents. For all its mass, this wine is almost shockingly lithe thanks to a core of juicy acidity. It finishes extremely long and smooth, with rounded tannins and a lingering dark fruit preserve note.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2014 The Armagh Shiraz boasts intense aromas of vanilla, cedar and boysenberries. It's a full-bodied, creamy-ripe wine, big and rich, yet it's held together by bright acids, with 20 years of potential ageability. The Armagh vineyard Shiraz isn't that old by South Australian standards, having been planted in 1968, but it consistently yields one of Clare's top Shiraz bottlings.

James Suckling (99)

Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.

James Suckling (99)

Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.

Decanter (96)

Such incredible perfume and florality from this standout Shiraz, so expressive and captivating, filled with roses and violets alongside cherries and plum fruit, milk chocolate and some sage notes. Medium-bodied on the palate but it’s the texture and overall presence of the wine in the mouth that gives this star quality. Tannins are fine and seductive cashmere-like, edged with fruit intensity and spicy sides. This has a good energy to it, mouthwatering and pulsing with life with a long finish and lift at the end. Precision and power - built to last.

Decanter (100)

A meaty, savoury, spiced nose, something so welcoming about it, warm and friendly with a touch of perfume, dark chocolate, cinnamon and pink peppercorn to the blackcurrant, damsons and plums. Rich, ample and generous, yet delivered with such supple and velvety-soft tannins. This has an elegance to it, a cool sophistication in terms of the profile - neat and tidy, quite linear right now, brimming with energy, not yet fully expansive or loose, but quietly controlled and calm. It's confident though with invigorating acidity and I love the focus, detail and the purity of fruit. Sweet red fruits - strawberries, raspberries and red cherries with a slight balsamic, pomegranate edge that is so delicious. Juicy, crunchy, succulent and ripe but with an effortless edge to it. Supremely drinkable and likeable - what a gorgeous wine! A quality vintage and excellent winemaking skill on show. Ageing 18 months in French oak.

Decanter (100)

A meaty, savoury, spiced nose, something so welcoming about it, warm and friendly with a touch of perfume, dark chocolate, cinnamon and pink peppercorn to the blackcurrant, damsons and plums. Rich, ample and generous, yet delivered with such supple and velvety-soft tannins. This has an elegance to it, a cool sophistication in terms of the profile - neat and tidy, quite linear right now, brimming with energy, not yet fully expansive or loose, but quietly controlled and calm. It's confident though with invigorating acidity and I love the focus, detail and the purity of fruit. Sweet red fruits - strawberries, raspberries and red cherries with a slight balsamic, pomegranate edge that is so delicious. Juicy, crunchy, succulent and ripe but with an effortless edge to it. Supremely drinkable and likeable - what a gorgeous wine! A quality vintage and excellent winemaking skill on show. Ageing 18 months in French oak.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The Barry brothers sent me a second bottle of the 2022 The Florita Riesling, which I am tasting here today, because they felt that it wasn't showing as well as it could the first time when I tasted it in October (it had only been bottled four weeks prior). In truth, I think it was showing just as well then as it is now, and it is a superstar. 2022 seemed to harness the fruit from the vineyard and boost it: more power, more concentration, more acid, more vivid ... just such exceptional wines. I've said this before, but 2022 could easily be the best vintage in the last 20 years, and for those who know, that takes us back to the great, the age-worthy, the revered 2002 vintage. This is a collector's year. Do not waste the opportunity, because the vintage, coupled with the screw-cap closure, will allow the wine to age for a long time.

Vinous (93)

Light, bright yellow. Highly expressive citrus, orchard and pit fruit scents are complemented by subtle floral, honey and mineral nuances. Silky and round on the palate, offering pliant peach, tangerine and pear flavors that deepen slowly with air. Shows very good power and clarity on the floral-driven finish, which lingers with strong persistence.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

This is the bromance wine of Peter Barry and Mosel luminary Ernst Loosen, who met in 1995 over their love and respect of riesling. The winemaking is the same – hand-picked fruit off the Wolta Wolta block, wild-yeast fermentation in a 2800L German oak fuder and 12 months on lees. It's then racked off and spends another year in stainless steel. This is the second incarnation of this collaborative wine and a very fine follow-up. It's quite savoury, with a touch more phenolics adding to its shape. It does have the same texture, and off-dry feel that seems to be defining this wine. It's pure, it's energetic, it's something special yet again.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

Made from centenarian vines in Light Pass, matured for 15 months in used French oak. This is a glorious manifestation of the '17 vintage, its cool conditions retaining freshness of fruit at a very modest alcohol level. A sheer pleasure to drink.

Wine Advocate (97+)

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Eligo has a profoundly scented nose of crème de cassis, blackberry pie, licorice, dark chocolate and blueberry preserves against an earthy/meaty background of bacon fat, forest floor, beef dripping and black loam. The densely packed, full-bodied palate manages almost paradoxical elegance and restraint with velvety tannins and lively acid giving closure to the long, multilayered finish.

Wine Advocate (98+)

Very deep purple-black in color, the 2013 Eligo has an intoxicating nose of creme de cassis, blueberry tart and violets with underlying menthol, cloves, fenugreek, licorice and dark chocolate hints. The medium to full-bodied palate is youthfully restrained, with taut, muscular blackberry and exotic spice flavors supported by fine-grained, firm tannins and lively acid, finishing with excellent length. This is a very classy 2013 Shiraz!

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

Eligo is made from the best parcels of the vintage, fermented with submerged caps in small open fermenters, matured for 20 months in French hogsheads (50% new). The tannins and oak are built into the wine like an inlaid checkerboard table created by a master craftsman with decades of experience. Like John Duval.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

John Duval is a master blender. This is all about the best of the vintage, fruit from various sites across the and Eden Barossa Valleys, to morph into the mighty Eligo. A powerhouse of flavour yet never loses focus. Dark plums infused with star anise, cinnamon, Dutch licorice and soy sauce. Full-bodied with velvety rich tannins. It gets the most oak - French hogsheads 54% new, aged 18 months, and needs time to settle in. It will.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

Fermentation with submerged cap; up to two weeks on skins, then matured for 18 months in French hogsheads (55% new). Opaque purple; incredible depths to the velvety black fruits that run on oiled stainless steel rails, making it impossible to deny

Halliday Wine Companion (99)

From old vines in five districts, fermented with submerged cap, matured in French hogsheads (32% new) for 15 months. Complex and rich from the first whiff through to the aftertaste, not wasting a single berry in this great vintage. So much power, such elegance.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

A full-bodied wine of ultimate coherence and quality, the bouquet setting the signal for the palate to follow. Attention to detail is obvious, especially the handling of tannins and oak. The integration of these components with the blackcurrant fruit is faultless.

The Vintage Journal (98)

Deep crimson. Complex blackcurrant, blackberry, praline, roasted chestnut mocha, marzipan notes. Richly flavoured, round and smooth with beautiful pure blackcurrant, blackberry mocha espresso flavours, fine loose-knit grainy tannins and underlying roasted chestnut, toffee notes. Finishes chocolaty and long with a long life ahead.

Wine Advocate (95+)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2013 Alte Reben Shiraz is opening out into a bold, pure, pepper and licorice-laced nose over a core of black cherries and crushed blueberries with a touch of dried herbs. Full, rich and yet with plenty of freshness, this is a wine with great concentration, nice ripe tannins and a tantalizing finish. Yum!

Wine Advocate (95)

Kaesler’s icon cuvee is their Shiraz Old Bastard, produced from a single vineyard planted in 1896, and aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. The 2004 is a big yet remarkably elegant, deep purple-colored Shiraz offering notes of blueberries, black raspberries, and toasty oak, a superb texture, admirable richness, and a long, heady finish. There is plenty of tannin lurking beneath the cascade of fruit, glycerin, and extract. While accessible, it is too young to drink at present, and is meant to keep for 2-3 decades. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025+.